Soddy-Daisy city commissioners may talk tonight about rescinding insurance benefits for commissioners that the town adopted last year.
Commissioners voted unanimously in December 2009 to include themselves in the city’s health insurance.
IF YOU GO* The Soddy-Daisy City Commission meets at 7 p.m. today.
Mayor Gene Shipley voted for it, but said at the time he thought commissioners would be paying the full cost of the health insurance.
Shipley said the unpopular decision may have been a factor in the defeat of two commissioners in the Nov. 2 election.
Now Shipley says he thinks it’s unfair for commissioners to take insurance that costs the city more than their compensation as elected officials.
Soddy-Daisy covers 100 percent of the premiums for officials’ individual plans, or nearly $5,000 annually per year per person, according to City Recorder Sara Burris.
By comparison, commissioners are entitled to be paid $3,600 a year, though Burris said they don’t take the compensation.
Burris said Commissioners Bob Privett, David Skiles and Shane Harmon accepted city insurance; Privett and Skiles were defeated.
The new commissioners, Rick Nunley and Janice Cagle, are not taking the insurance, Burris said.
“I just heard some comments that some people didn’t think it was right for them to take the insurance,” Nunley said.
Shipley said he heard voters say they were upset because no commissioner had received health insurance before and weren’t aware the city had extended the city’s insurance coverage to commissioners.
Besides covering the full premiums for its public officials, Soddy-Daisy also covers 50 percent of the additional costs for dependents, Burris said.
Individual plans cost the city $4,928 per year per person, $7,239 per year per person for employee plus one dependent and the family plans cost the city $9,266 per family per year. No commissioner is on the family plan, Burris said.